1) I presume that you built the TV Games Computer. Right? If not, where
did you acquire it?

You are right, I built TVGC up from scratch. I was eager to learn how a
computer functioned deep inside. In those days I worked as an system
analyst with an American computer company. Beside this I wrote programs in
COBOL and assembler.

2) What made you choose THAT computer? Price? The thrill of building a
computer from scratch? Someone else that you knew that had one?

The pages 4-28 to 4-33 and 4-44 to 4-52 of the German magazine "Elektor"
Volume 100, April 1979, inspired me to build that computer as soon as
possible. As I could afford it, I started it at once, doing everything by
myself.

3) Were you aware that later consoles used the 2650 CPU? Did you ever use
an Interton VC 4000 or Arcadia-family console?

I heard about later computers using the 2650 CPU, but about Interton VC
4000 or Arcadia-family I read for the first time in your documentation.

4) Did you go into programming at all on other computers? What was your
next computer AFTER the TVGC?

Yes, but before I wrote for 2650 I used to progam big commercial computers
(NCR, IBM and others). The next after the TVGC was a Commodore 64 (BASIC,
assembler).

5) What made you choose to write "Lotto?" Uh, were you able to win with it
and retire ;-) ?

Well, "Lotto" was for fun, you could use it in daily life. It was a little
bit difficult, because the chosen number(s) had to be ignored in the next
round(s) and the memory space was really small (<2K!). I never heard of
people winning money by using "Lotto" - but who knows...I myself did not
win a penny...

6) Did you rub shoulders with other TVGC users are the time? Was there a
user group or anything like that?

From time to time (snail mail!) I had correspondence with another author
of TVGC programs (Paul-Jürgen Dickers). It was planned by Dickers to start
a user group but in the end it was not realized.
      
7) When did you first get the TVGC? When did you stop using it?

In April of 1979 I started to build the computer and I used it until 1982.

8) Do you know about or have any 3rd-party TVGC software, eg. the Hocosoft
programs released in 1981?

I own Hocosoft No. ESS-007, No. ESS-009, No. ESS-010, No. 16, No. 0021
(Teaser & Queen), No. 0022 (Solitaire), No. 0027 (Reversi), No. 0028
(Tuerme von Hanoi), No. 0030 (Basar) and No. 0033 (Othello) and many other
programs on tapes, but I do not know wether the tapes are still readable
or not. I started the old 2650 TVGC after about 26 years and it worked for
half an hour, but when I tried to read a tape, the computer did not work
anymore. I guess that the EPROM lost a part of its memory. So if it is
possible to get e new EPROM the TVGC will work again.

9) Did you expand the TVGC or just use the basic version?

I expanded the TVGC in October 1980. In Elektor Volume September 1981 page
9-48 and 9-54 there is a documentation of the extension + 3K memory and
sound effects. Furthermore I added two EPROMs with a chess program inside.
This chess program is still responding and therefore I know that the CPU
and PVI are working correctly after all the years of not being used.

10) Did you write any other TVGC programs?

Yes, I wrote some other programs just for my own fun, but I did not make
them public. When I sent the program Disassembler (my best program I
guess) to Elektor, Mr. P. V. Holmes cut out some subroutines and added his
name as co-author without any asking...Mr. P. V. Holmes's really strange
behaviour ended my contact to the German Elektor.

11) What is your favourite TVGC game :-) ?

My favourite is Mauerball (kind of Breakout), but my favourite of all
programs is the Disassembler in the unabridged version.

12) What kind of documentation did you use for programming the TVGC?

Elektor, Signetics 2650 documentation, Microcomputer by Dr. J.
Hatzenbichler and TV-Computerspiele by H. Bernstein.
 
Attachments:

pictures (4) of the 2650 TVGC
picture of 2650 screen (after rest of 26 years)
picture of 2650 screen (chess program)
picture of the Signetics manual
picture of the books (programming)
picture of the 1. page of Elektor Volume 100
picture of the 1. page of Lotto program

Interview conducted via email in February 2008.

